STACK 
AHHEZ 


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ARRiED  Love 


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By 

LORD   DAWSON 

Physician  to  King  George  V. 

and 
Dean  W.  R.  Inge 

of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral 


Published  by 

The  Birth  Control  Review 

104  Fifth  Avenue 
New  York 


MARRIED  LOVE 


By 
LORD  DAWSON 


Including  Comment  on  Lord  Dawson  s  Paper 

by  W.  R.  Inge,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's 

Cathedral,  London 


PUBLISHED    BY 

THE  BIRTH  CONTROL  REVIEW 

104  Fifth  Avenue  New  York  City 

1922 


MARRIED     LOVE 

One  of  the  most  notable  features  of  the  Church  Congress  at 
Birmingham  was  a  frank  and  emphatic  address  by  Lord  Daw- 
son on  the  relationship  of  the  sexes.  Lord  Dawson,  who  is 
the  King^s  physician,  analysed  the  grave  problems  arising  out 
of  love  and  marriage,  and  expressed  his  conviction  that  Birth 
Control  had  come  to  stay.  He  suggested  that  there  should  be 
added  to  the  causes  of  marriage  in  the  Prayer  Book  "the  com- 
plete realisation  of  the  love  of  this  man  and  this  woman  one 
for  another/'  and  in  support  of  his  contention  declared  that 
sex  love  beween  husband  and  wife — apart  from  parenthood — 
was  something  to  prize  and  cherish  for  its  own  sake.  The 
Lambeth  Conference,  he  remarked,  "envisaged  a  love  inverte- 
brate and  joyless,"  whereas,  in  his  view,  natural  passion  in 
wedlock  was  not  a  thing  to  be  ashamed  of,  or  unduly  repressed. 
Lord  Dawson's  speech,  which  we  publish  in  full  below,  proved 
to  be  the  prevailing  topic  of  discussion  in  the  subsequent  pro- 
ceedings at  the  Congress.  The  Bishop  of  Birmingham,  who 
in  addition  to  presiding  over  the  Congress,  is  president  of  the 
National  Council  of  Public  Morals  stated,  in  an  interview, 
that  "there  is  in  the  physical  union  of  the  married  couple  who 
are  one  before  God  a  spiritual  side  which  should  spring  from 

2056566 


4  MARRIED   LOVE 

the  perfect  oneness,  and  that  perfect  oneness  is  not  only  a 
spiritual  oneness;  it  is  a  oneness  also  in  the  expression  of  a 
pure  passion,  ivhich  is  quite  distinct  from  sensuality.  In  these 
ways  I  think  Lord  Dawson  and  I  have  travelled  on  the  same 
road  and  have  worked  together,  and  I  could  not  find  anything 
with  ivhich  I  was  in  conflict  in  the  matter.  The  Church  really, 
I  think,  feels  the  same  thing  as  Lord  Davjson,  but  what  the 
Church  is  afraid  of  is  making  the  marriage  tie  omit  the  con- 
sideration of  the  procreation  of  children,  and  simply  living 
only  for  the  other  side.  That  is  what  the  Church  has  been 
fighting  against.  It  is  a  matter  that  is  still  considerably  sub 
judice,  but  the  Church  is  quite  satisfied  that  certain  means  are 
ivrong,  and  ought  not  to  be  used." 

T  ORD  DAWSON'S  speech  was  as  follows:— "May  I  make 
certain  preliminary  observations?  Painters  and  poets 
depict  Love  to  us  in  golden  hues  and  arouse  in  us  happy  and 
sympathetic,  and,  I  trust,  reminiscent  response,  helping  us  to 
realise  that  life  without  the  love  of  man  and  v/oman  would  be 
like  the  world  without  sunshine.  Though,  therefore,  the  social 
student  in  his  approach  to  the  subject  is  not  helped  by  the 
beauties  of  colour  and  song,  it  behooves  him  to  avoid  undue 
solemnity  and  still  more  an  air  of  portentous  foreboding. 
One  of  the  difficulties  of  this  subject  is  that  those  who  are 
called  upon  to  give  counsel  are  apt  to  forget  the  strength  of 
the  forces  to  be  dealt  with,  for  it  is  during  youth  especially 


MARRIED  LOVE  O 

that  sex  attractions  are  so  powerful,  and  may  I  add,  so  delight- 
ful.    Middle-aged  people  may  be  divided  into  three  classes. 

Those  who  are  still  young. 

Those  who  have  forgotten  they  were  young. 

Those  who  were  never  young. 
And  it  is  with  the  first  class  before  my  eyes  that  I  am  privi- 
leged to  address  this  audience.  The  real  problems  before  us 
are  those  of  sex  love  and  child  love;  and  by  sex  love  I  mean 
that  love  which  involves  intercourse  or  the  desire  for  such.  It 
is  necessary  to  my  argument  to  emphasize  that  sex  love  is  one 
of  the  clamant  dominating  forces  of  the  world.  Not  only  does 
history  show  the  destinies  of  nations  and  dynasties  determined 
by  its  sway — ^but  here  in  our  every-day  life  we  see  its  influence, 
direct  or  indirect,  forceful  and  ubiquitous  beyond  aught  else. 
Any  statesmanlike  review,  therefore,  will  recognize  that  here 
we  have  an  instinct  so  fundamental,  so  imperious,  that  its  in- 
fluence is  a  fact  which  has  to  be  accepted;  suppress  it  you  can- 
not. You  may  guide  it  into  healthy  channels,  but  an  outlet  it 
will  have,  and  if  that  outlet  is  inadequate  or  unduly  obstructed 
irregular  channels  will  be  forced.  We  uphold  the  control  of 
sex  love  outside  marriage  by  the  individual,  and  that  we  are 
right  in  so  doing  is  incontestable.  But  let  us  realize  that  in 
practice,  self-control  has  a  breaking  point,  and  that  if  in  any 
community  marriage  is  difficult  or  late  of  attainment,  an  in- 
crease of  irregular  unions  will  inevitably  result.  That  the 
Church  recognizes  this  is  shown  by  the  statement  that  marriage 


O  MARRIED   LOVE 

was  instituted  to  prevent  sin.  In  considering  the  problem  of 
illicit  intercourse  and  its  attendant  evils,  the  social  conditions 
that  make  for  a  wholesome  life  are  of  more  efficiency  than  Acts 
of  Parliament  to  suppress  vice.  My  desire,  however,  on  this 
occasion  is  rather  to  consider  sex  love  in  relation  to  marriage. 

Sex  Love  in  Relation  to  TyIarrl^ge 

'T^HE  FIRST  POINT  I  wish  to  make  is  that  people  need  more 
knowledge  of  the  scientific  bearings  of  sex  relations  and 
more  clearly  defined  guidance  of  their  rightful  purport  and 
practice.  They  are  imperfectly  provided  with  both.  We  talk 
about  instructing  the  young  when  we  are  neither  clear  nor 
agreed  amongst  ourselves.  All  are  agreed  that  union  of  body 
should  be  in  association  with  union  of  mind  and  soul;  all  are 
agreed  that  the  rearing  of  children  is  a  pre-eminent  purpose. 
But  what  purport  is  there  beyond  these?  Here  there  is  a  lack 
of  precision.  What  does  the  Church  service  say?  It  says, 
'Marriage  was  ordained  for  a  remedy  against  sin,  and  to  avoid 
fornication;  that  such  persons  as  have  not  the  gift  of  conti- 
nency  might  marry  and  keep  themselves  undefiled  members  of 
Christ's  body.'  Now  this  is  a  very  negative  blessing.  It  implies 
that  where  unfortunately  people  cannot  be  continent  mar- 
riage gives  the  best  way  out — enables  them  to  get  relief  within 
the  pale  of  virtue.  This  attitude  affords  to  sex  love  no  positive 
purport  or  merit  of  its  own,  and  is  in  striking  conflict  with  the 
facts  of  life  through  the  ages — facts  which  carry  social  ap- 


MARRIED   LOVE  7 

proval.  The  recent  pronouncement  of  the  Church  as  set  forth 
in  Resolution  68  of  the  Lambeth  Conference  seems  to  imply 
condemnation  of  sex  love  as  such,  and  to  imply  sanction  of  sex 
love  only  as  a  means  to  an  end — namely,  procreation,  though  it 
must  be  admitted  it  lacks  that  clearness  of  direction  which  in 
so  vital  a  matter  one  would  have  expected.  It  almost  reminds 
me  of  one  of  those  diplomatic  formulae  which  is  not  intended 
to  be  too  clear.    Allow  me  to  quote  from  it: — 

"In  opposition  to  the  teaching  which  under  the  name  of  science  and 
religion  encourages  married  people  in  the  deliberate  cultivation  of 
sexual  union  as  an  end  in  itself,  we  steadfastly  uphold  what  must 
always  be  regarded  as  the  governing  considerations  of  Christian  mar- 
riage. One  is  the  primary  purpose  for  which  marriage  exists — namely, 
the  continuation  of  the  race,  through  the  gift  and  heritage  of  children; 
the  other  is  the  paramount  importance  in  married  life  of  deliberate  and 
thoughtful  self-control." 

Now  the  plain  meaning  of  this  statement  is  that  sexual  union 
should  take  place  for  the  sole  purpose  of  procreation,  that  sex- 
ual union  as  an  end  in  itself — not,  mind  you,  the  only  end — 
(there  we  should  all  agree),  but  sexual  union  as  an  end  in 
itself  is  to  be  condemned.  That  means  that  sexual  intercourse 
should  rightly  take  place  only  for  the  purpose  of  procreation. 
Quite  a  large  family  could  easily  result  from  quite  a  fev; 
sexual  unions.  For  the  rest  the  couple  should  be  celibate.  Any 
intercourse  not  having  procreation  as  its  intention  is  'sexual 
union  as  an  end  in  itself,'  and,  therefore,  by  inference  con- 
demned by  the  Lambeth  Conference. 


8  married  love 

Let  Us  Recall  Our  Own  Love 

nPHINK  OF  THE  FACTS  of  life.  Lei  us  recall  our  own  love 
— our  marriage,  our  honeymoon.  Has  not  sexual  union 
over  and  over  again  been  the  physical  expression  of  our  love 
without  thought  or  intention  of  procreation?  Have  w^e  all  been 
wrong?  Or  is  it  that  the  Church  lacks  that  vital  contact  with 
the  realities  of  life  which  accounts  for  the  gulf  between  her 
and  the  people?  The  love  envisaged  by  the  Lambeth  Confer- 
ence is  an  invertebrate,  joyless  thing — not  worth  the  having. 
Fortunately,  it  is  in  contrast  to  the  real  thing  as  practised  by 
clergy  and  laity.  Fancy  an  ardent  lover  (and  what  respect 
have  you  for  a  lover  who  is  not  ardent) — the  type  you  would 
like  your  daughter  to  marry — virile,  ambitious,  chivalrous — 
a  man  who  means  to  work  hard  and  love  hard.  Fancy  putting 
before  these  lovers — eager  and  expectant  of  the  joys  before 
them — the  Lambeth  picture  of  marriage.  Do  you  expect  to  gain 
their  confidence?  Authority,  and  I  include  under  authority  the 
Churches,  will  never  gain  the  allegiance  of  the  young  unless 
their  attitude  is  more  frank,  more  courageous,  and  more  in 
accordance  with  realities.  And,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am 
not  sure  that  too  much  prudent  self-restraint  suits  love  and  its 
purport. 

Romance  and  deliberate  self-control  do  not,  to  my  mind, 
rhyme  very  well  together.  A  touch  of  madness  to  begin  with 
does  no  harm.  Heaven  knows,  life  sobers  it  soon  enough. 
I'  you  don't  start  life  with  a  head  of  steam  you  won't  get  far. 


MARRIED   LOVE  9 

Sex  love  has,  apart  from  parenthood,  a  purport  of  its  own.  It 
is  something  to  prize  and  to  cherish  for  its  own  sake.  It  is 
an  essential  part  of  health  and  happiness  in  marriage.  And 
now,  if  you  will  allow  me,  I  will  carry  this  argument  a  step 
further.  If  sexual  union  is  a  gift  of  God  it  is  worth  learning 
how  to  use  it.  Within  its  own  sphere  it  should  be  cultivated 
so  as  to  bring  physical  satisfaction  to  both,  not  merely  to  one. 

Durability  of  Their  Marriage  Tie 
rj^RE  ATTAINMENT  of  mutual  and  reciprocal  joy  in  their 
relations  constitutes  a  firm  bond  between  two  people,  and 
makes  for  durability  of  their  marriage  tie.  Reciprocity  in  sex 
love  is  the  physical  counterpart  of  sympathy.  More  marriages 
fail  from  inadequate  and  clumsy  sex  love  than  from  too  much 
sex  love.  The  lack  of  proper  understanding  is  in  no  small 
measure  responsible  for  the  unfulfilment  of  connubial  happi- 
ness, and  every  degree  of  discontent  and  unhappiness  may, 
from  this  cause,  occur,  leading  to  rupture  of  the  marriage  bond 
itself.  How  often  do  medical  men  have  to  deal  with  these  difl&- 
culties,  and  how  fortunate  if  such  difficulties  are  disclosed  early 
enough  in  married  life  to  be  rectified.  Otherwise  how  tragic 
may  be  their  consequences,  and  many  a  case  in  the  Divorce 
Court  has  thus  had  its  origin.  To  the  foregoing  contentions, 
it  might  be  objected,  you  are  encouraging  passion.  My  reply 
would  be,  passion  is  a  worthy  possession — most  men,  who  are 
any  good,  are  capable  of  passion.  You  all  enjoy  ardent  and 
passionate  love  in  art  and  literature.    Why  not  give  it  a  place 


10  MARRIED   LOVE 

in  real  life?  Why  some  people  look  askance  at  passion  is  be- 
cause they  are  confusing  it  with  sensuality.  Sex  love  without 
passion  is  a  poor,  lifeless  thing.  Sensuality,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  on  a  level  with  gluttony — a  physical  excess — detached  from 
sentiment,  chivalry,  or  tenderness.  It  is  just  as  important  to 
give  sex  love  its  place  as  to  avoid  its  over-emphasis.  Its  real 
and  effective  restraints  are  those  imposed  by  a  loving  and  sym- 
pathetic companionship,  by  the  privileges  of  parenthood,  the 
exacting  claims  of  career  and  that  civic  sense  which  prompts 
men  to  do  social  service.  Now  that  the  revision  of  the  Prayer 
Book  is  receiving  consideration,  I  should  like  to  suggest  with 
great  respect  an  addition  made  to  the  objects  of  marriage  in 
the  Marriage  Service,  in  these  terms  'The  complete  realization 
of  the  love  of  this  man  and  this  woman,  the  one  for  the  other.' 

Birth  Control  is  Here  to  Stay 

A  ND  NOW,  IF  YOU  will  permit,  I  will  pass  on  to  consider 
•^  the  all  important  question  of  Birth  Control.  First,  I  will 
put  forward  with  confidence  the  view  that  Birth  Control  is  here 
to  stay.  It  is  an  established  fact,  and  for  good  or  evil  has  to  be 
accepted.  Although  the  extent  of  its  application  can  be  and  is 
being  modified,  no  denunciations  will  abolish  it.  Despite  the 
influence  and  condemnations  of  the  Church,  it  has  been  prac- 
tised in  France  for  well  over  half  a  century,  and  in  Belgium 
and  other  Roman  Catholic  countries  is  extending.  And  if  the 
Roman   Catholic   Church,   with   its  compact   organization,   its 


MARRIED  LOVE  11 

power  of  authority,  and  its  discipline,  cannot  check  this  pro- 
cedure, is  it  likely  that  Protestant  Churches  will  be  able  to  do 
so,  for  Protestant  religions  depend  for  their  strength  on  the 
conviction  and  esteem  they  establish  in  the  heads  and  hearts  of 
their  people.  The  reasons  which  lead  parents  to  limit  their  off- 
spring are  sometimes  selfish,  but  more  often  honorable  and 
cogent. 

The  desire  to  marry  and  to  rear  children  well  equipped 
for  life's  struggle,  limited  incomes,  the  cost  of  living,  burden- 
some taxation,  are  forcible  motives  and  further,  amongst  the 
educated  classes  there  is  the  desire  of  women  to  take  a  part  in 
life  and  their  husbands'  careers,  which  is  incompatible  with  oft- 
recurring  children.  It  is  idle  to  decry  illicit  intercourse  and 
interpose  obstacles  to  marriage  at  one  and  the  same  time.  But, 
say  many  whose  opinions  are  entitled  to  our  respect:  'Yes — 
Birth  Control  may  be  necessary,  but  the  only  Birth  Control 
which  is  justifiable  is  voluntary  abstention  from  connubial  re- 
lations.' Such  abstention  would  be  either  ineffective,  or,  if 
effective,  impracticable,  and  harmful  to  health  and  happiness. 
To  limit  the  size  of  a  family  to,  say  four  children  during  a 
child-bearing  period  of  20-25  years,  would  be  to  impose  on  a 
married  couple  an  amount  of  abstention  which,  for  long  peri- 
ods, would  almost  be  equivalent  to  celibacy,  and  when  one  re- 
members that  owing  to  economic  reasons  the  abstention  would 
have  to  be  most  strict  during  the  earlier  years  of  married  life, 
when  desires  are  strongest,  I  maintain  a  demand  is  being  made 


12  MARRIED   LOVE 

which,  for  the  mass  of  people,  it  is  impossible  to  meet;  that 
the  endeavors  to  meet  it  would  impose  a  strain  hostile  to  health 
and  happiness,  and  carry  with  them  grave  dangers  to  morals. 
Imagine  a  young  married  couple  in  love  with  each  other — ^the 
parents,  say,  of  one  child,  who  feel  they  cannot  afford  another 
child,  for,  say,  three  years,  being  expected  to  occupy  the  same 
room  and  to  abstain  for  two  years.  The  thing  is  preposterous. 
You  might  as  well  put  water  by  the  side  of  a  man  suffering 
from  thirst,  and  tell  him  not  to  drink  it.  And,  further  than 
that,  if  the  efforts  to  abstain  are  seriously  made,  the  strain  in- 
volved is  harmful  to  health  and  temper — if  the  efforts  do  not 
succeed,  the  minds  of  husband  and  wife  are  troubled  by  doubts 
and  anxieties,  which  are  damaging  to  their  intimate  relation- 
ships. No — Birth  Control  by  abstention  is  either  ineffective, 
or,  if  effective,  is  pernicious. 

Birth  Control  Not  Unnatural 
T  WILL  NEXT  consider  Artificial  Control.  The  forces  in 
modern  life  which  make  for  Birth  Control  are  so  strong 
that  only  convincing  reasons  will  make  people  desist  from 
it.  It  is  said  to  be  unnatural  and  intrinsically  immoral. 
This  word  unnatural  perplexes  me.  Why?  Civilization 
involves  the  chaining  of  natural  forces  and  their  conversion 
to  man's  will  and  uses.  Much  of  medicine  and  surgery 
consist  of  means  to  overcome  nature.  When  anaesthetics 
were  first  used  at  childbirth  there  was  an  outcry  on  the  part 
of  many  worthy  and  religious  people  that  their  use  under 


MARRIED   LOVE  13 

such  circumstances  was  unnatural  and  wicked,  because  God 
meant  woman  to  suffer  the  struggles  and  pains  of  childbirth. 
Now  we  all  admit  it  is  right  to  control  the  process  of  child- 
birth, and  to  save  the  mother  as  much  pain  as  possible.  It  is 
no  more  unnatural  to  control  conception  by  artificial  means 
than  to  control  childbirth  by  artificial  means.  Surely  the 
whole  question  turns  on  whether  these  artificial  means  are  for 
the  good  or  harm  of  the  individual  and  the  community.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  Birth  Control  before  the  first  child  is  in- 
advisable. On  the  other  hand,  the  justifiable  use  of  Birth 
Control  would  seem  to  be  to  limit  the  number  of  children 
when  such  is  desirable,  and  to  spread  out  their  arrival  in  such 
a  way  as  to  serve  their  true  interests  and  those  of  their  home. 
Once  more,  careful  distinction  needs  to  be  made  between  the 
use  and  the  bad  effect  of  the  abuse  of  Birth  Control.  That  its 
abuse  produces  grave  harm  I  fully  agree — harm  to  parents,  to 
families,  and  to  the  nation.  But  abuse  is  not  a  just  condemna- 
tion of  legitimate  use.  Over-eating,  over-drinking,  over- 
smoking, over-sleeping,  over-work  do  not  carry  condemnation 
of  eating,  drinking,  smoking,  sleeping,  work.  But  the  evils  of 
excessive  Birth  Control  are  very  real. 

Maternity 
It/TATERNITY  gives  to  woman  her  most  beautiful  attributes. 
Fancy  being  mad  enough  to  suppress  it.     If  one  watches 
the  woman  with  one  child  and  all  maternity  finished  before  30 


14  MARRIED   LOVE 

and  compare  her  at  40  with  the  woman  of  the  same  age  who  has 
had,  say,  four  children  at  proper  intervals,  who  usually  has 
the  advantage  in  preservation  of  youth  and  beauty?  Not  the 
former.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  admitted  that  baby  after 
baby  every  year  or  18  months  wears  and  often  exhausts  a 
woman's  strength.  The  inference  is  that  the  use  of  Birth  Con- 
trol is  good,  its  abuse  bad.  Next,  the  children.  Is  it  even 
necessary  to  refer  to  the  failure  of  the  single-child  household? 
Poor  little  thing!  Surrounded  by  over-anxious  parents,  spoilt, 
no  children  to  play  with,  bored  stifif  by  adults.  And  then, 
perhaps,  illness,  and  it  may  be  death — and  when  it  is  too  late 
to  produce  another.  Of  the  many  tragedies  I  met  in  the  war 
none  exceeded  that  attaching  to  the  loss  of  only  children.  It 
often  means  the  end  of  all  things;  nothing  to  live  for — just 
blank  despair.  The  parents  and  the  home  both  need  children 
of  varying  ages.  That  is  the  way  of  happineis  and  enduring 
youth.  And,  lastly,  the  national  aspect  may  be  stated  very 
briefly.  If  England  is  not  to  lose  her  place  in  the  world,  her 
population  must  be  maintained  and  increased.  Unless  fathers 
and  mothers  produce  an  average  of  over  three  children,  that 
population  will  not  be  maintained.  If  you  say  to  a  young  hus- 
band and  wife  with  their  one  or  two  children,  *Do  you  like  to 
contemplate  that  when  you  both  leave  life  your  country  will 
through  your  action,  be  worse  ofif  than  when  you  entered  life?' 
that  is  an  appeal  to  patriotism,  and  likely  to  be  a  successful 
appeal.     There  are  signs  of  a  public  opinion  forming  which 


MARRIED  LOVE  15 

will  condemn  the  selfishness  of  marriages  without  their  proper 
heritage  of  children,  but  such  public  opinion  will  not  be 
strengthened  by  an  indiscriminate  condemnation  of  Birth  Con- 
trol. May  I  end  my  speech  with  an  appeal  that  the  Church 
approach  this  question,  in  common  with  certain  others,  in 
the  light  of  modern  knowledge  and  the  needs  of  a  new  world, 
and  unhampered  by  traditions  which  have  outworn  their  use- 
fulness." 


16  MARRIED   LOVE 

SEX    AND     REPRODUCTION 

Death  R-\te  Balances  Birth-rate 

IT  IS  A  bad  sympLom  that  Lord  Dawson's  paper  at  the 
Birmingham  Church  Congress,  wise  and  temperate  and  in 
perfect  taste,  should  have  been  received  in  certain  quarters 
with  denunciation.  The  newspapers  which  have  taken  the  lead 
in  this  agitation  have  probably  mistaken  the  mind  of  their 
public;  if  not,  they  cannot  be  congratulated  on  their  clientele. 

In  dealing  \vdth  a  subject  where  so  much  ignorance  and 
prejudice  have  been  proved  to  exist,  it  is  best  to  begin  with  a 
dispassionate  and  colorless  statement  of  elementary  facts. 

The  reproductive  capacity  of  every  species  is  far  in  excess 
of  the  possibility  of  survival.  In  some  of  the  lower  forms  of 
life  the  fertility  is  prodigious.  The  star-fish  (luida)  has  200 
million  eggs.  "If  all  the  progeny  of  one  oyster  survived  and 
multiplied,  its  great-great-grand-oflspring  would  number  66 
with  33  noughts  after  it  and  the  heap  of  shells  would  be  eight 
times  the  size  of  our  earth." 

Fertility  and  care  for  offspring  usually  vary  inversely. 
Sutherland  says:  "Of  species  that  exhibit  no  sort  of  parental 
care,  the  average  of  49  gives  1,040,000  eggs  to  a  female  each 
year,  while  among  those  which  make  nests  or  any  apology  for 
nests  the  number  is  only  about  10,000.  Among  those  which 
have  any  protective  tricks,  such  as  carrying  the  eggs  in  pouches, 


SEX  AND   REPRODUCTION  17 

or  attached  to  the  body,  or  in  the  mouth,  the  average  number 
is  under  1,000,  while  among  those  which  .  .  .  bring  the  young 
into  the  world  alive  an  average  of  56  eggs  is  quite  sufficient. ' 
Man  is  no  exception  to  this  rule.  Where  the  natural  checks 
of  famine,  pestilence,  inter-tribal  slaughter,  and  disease  ope- 
rate without  hindrance,  the  equilibrium  of  population  is  main- 
tained by  a  very  high  birth-rate.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the  births 
and  deaths  in  the  undrained  towns  were  both  round  about 
50  per  thousand  in  each  year. 

Surplus  Children 
'yHERE  ARE  CITIES  in  Asia  where  these  conditions  still 
survive.  Almost  everywhere  the  numbers  press  constantly 
upon  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  children  can  only  survive 
where  there  is  room  for  them.  In  many  parts  of  the  world, 
both  in  the  civilized  races  of  antiquity  and  among  barbarous 
races  in  our  own  days,  surplus  children  are  gotten  rid  of  by 
systematic  infanticide. 

If  we  look  at  old  pedigrees,  or  at  old  tombstones  covered 
with  the  names  of  one  family,  we  shall  see  that  a  married  pair 
in  Englnd,  till  the  nineteenth  century,  might  expect  to  lose 
more  than  half  their  children  in  their  own  lifetime.  These 
children  were  of  course  not  murdered,  but  nothing  effective 
was  done  to  keep  them  alive. 

The  population  of  a  country  is  determined  by  economic  laws, 
not  by  the  will  of  individuals.  Individuals  may  exercise  choice, 


18  SEX   AND   REPRODUCTION 

but  numbers,  like  water,  find  their  own  level.  Every  unwanted 
baby,  kept  alive  by  humanitarian  interference,  drives  another 
baby  out  of  the  world  or  prevents  him  from  coming  into  it. 

Depopulation  is  a  somewhat  rare  phenomenon,  and  is  gen- 
erally caused  by  a  change  in  the  climate,  exhaustion  of  the 
soil,  or  the  diversion  of  trade  routes.  The  depopulation  of 
Mesopotamia  followed  necessarily  on  the  destruction  of  the 
irrigation  system  by  the  Mongol  hordes.  The  physiological 
infertility  which  is  exterminating  the  physically  splendid  races 
in  the  South  Sea  Islands  is  another  matter.  It  is  a  rare  disease, 
and  the  causes  of  it  have  not  been  fully  cleared  up. 

It  is  of  course  possible  for  a  nation  to  increase  its  numbers 
by  expropriating  another  nation.  Merely  to  subjugate  another 
nation  is  worse  than  useless,  because  the  conquered  people, 
being  driven  to  a  lower  standard  of  living,  will  probably  mul- 
tiply faster  than  their  conquerors.  It  is  no  use  even  to  mas- 
sacre all  the  fighting  men.  But  if  the  women  and  children 
can  be  driven  from  their  homes,  and  their  lands  seized  by  the 
invaders,  then  no  doubt  the  conquerors  may  multiply  up  to  the 
limits  imposed  by  the  size  and  fertility  of  the  occupied  territory. 

The  Right  to  Expand 

'T^HIS  IS  THE  real  meaning  of  "the  right  to  expand,"  of 
which  we  have  heard  so  much.     It  is  a  pleasant  pros- 
pect, if  every  nation  with  a  high  birth-rate  has  a  "right"  to 
exterminate  its  neighbors.     Perhaps  a  quotation  from  Prince 


SEX  AND   REPRODUCTION  19 

von  Buelow's  "Imperial  Germany"  will  bring  home  to  my 
readers  what  this  claim  means,  and  what  calamities  it  has 
brought  upon  the  world.  "The  course  of  events  has  driven 
German  policy  out  from  the  narrow  confines  of  Europe  into 
the  wider  world.  The  nation,  as  it  grew,  burst  the  bounds  of 
its  old  home,  and  its  policy  was  dictated  by  its  new  seeds.  The 
Empire  could  no  longer  support  the  immense  mass  of  human- 
ity within  its  boundaries.  Owing  to  the  enormous  increase  of 
population  German  policy  was  confronted  with  a  tremendous 
problem.  This  had  to  be  solved,  if  foreign  countries  were  not 
to  profit  by  the  superfluity  of  German  life  which  the  mother 
country  was  unable  to  support."  Mr.  Harold  Cox  even  says: 
"In  the  era  upon  which  we  have  now  entered  the  one  funda- 
mental cause  of  war  is  the  overgrowth  of  the  world's  popula- 
tion." 

I  do  not  entirely  agree  with  these  two  writers  because  it  is 
impossible  for  a  country  to  have  at  any  time  a  much  larger 
population  than  it  can  support,  but  in  the  main  they  are  right. 
The  supposed  duty  of  multiplication,  and  the  alleged  right  to 
expand,  are  among  the  chief  causes  of  modern  war;  and  I 
repeat  that  if  they  justify  war,  it  must  be  a  war  of  extermina- 
tion, since  mere  conquest  does  nothing  to  solve  the  problem. 

The  enormous  increase  in  the  population  of  Europe  during 
the  nineteenth  century  is  a  phenomenon  quite  unique  in  his- 
tory. It  was  the  result  of  the  industrial  revolution,  combined 
with  the  opening  out  of  new  food-producing  areas  beyond  the 
seas.    The  two  new  conditions  reacted  upon  each  other.    Vast 


20  SEX  AND  REPRODUCTION 

quantities  of  commodities  could  be  produced  cheaply,  and  they 
could  be  exchanged  for  food,  while  the  improved  methods  of 
transport  made  the  exchange  possible  and  easy. 

Countries  Filling  Up 
T^HE  PROCESS  went  on  merrily  at  first  because  the  new  coun- 
tries produced  far  more  food  than  they  needed  for  them- 
selves. So  there  was  a  demand  at  home  for  more  labor.  The 
State,  as  shortsighted  as  governments  usually  are,  applied  an 
artificial  stimulus  to  the  birth-rate  by  a  Poor  Law  which  en- 
couraged irresponsible  parentage,  and  permitted  the  Poor  Law 
guardians  to  send  wagon-loads  of  little  children  to  work  in  the 
factories  of  the  north.  Till  about  the  end  of  the  century  every 
new  pair  of  hands  in  England  paid  its  way  on  the  average, 
though  the  birth-rate  began  to  decline,  in  response  to  the  fall- 
ing death-rate,  after  1878. 

But  the  new  countries  are  getting  filled  up.  The  United 
States  can  feed  itself,  but  not  much  more.  Even  the  wheat- 
fields  of  Canada  and  the  Argentine  are  not  unlimited.  And 
we  in  England  have  long  since  lost  the  privileged  position  in 
manufacture  which  we  held  for  a  considerable  time  after  the 
war  with  Napoleon. 

An  abnormal  era  of  expansion  has  reached  its  natural  end. 
We  cannot  support  more  than  our  present  population,  and 
though  there  are  still  a  few  countries  where  a  young  English- 
man of  the  right  sort  may  emigrate  with  decidedly  better  pros- 


SEX  AND   REPRODUCTION  21 

pects  than  he  would  have  at  home,  there  are  no  longer  any 
wide  empty  tracts  of  good  land  waiting  for  occupation.  Emi- 
gration, in  a  word,  is  a  palliative  only;  and  before  long  it  will 
cease  to  be  even  a  palliative.  Maps  of  the  world  are  very 
delusive;  they  do  not  always  mark  the  deserts,  and  there  are 
many  other  unpleasant  explanations  of  the  empty  spaces  which 
look  so  alluring. 

No  Race  Suicide 
'THHESE,  THEN,  are  the  facts.  The  natural  rate  of  human 
increase  never  has  been  and  never  can  be  attained.  An 
equilibrium  between  births  and  deaths  is  the  normal  state  of 
things;  the  nineteenth  century  was  not  normal,  but  unique. 
There  are  no  more  empty  Americas  and  Australias,  and, 
equally  important,  we  have  no  longer  any  great  surplus  of 
manufactured  goods,  because  the  producers  of  those  goods  have 
begun  to  ask  why  they  should  not  enjoy  themselves.  The 
"Expansion  of  England,"  over  which  Sir  John  Seely  gloated  so 
eloquently,  was  a  grand  thing  while  it  lasted,  except  for  the 
barbarians  whose  lands  we  took  from  them,  but  it  has  reached 
its  natural  and  inevitable  limit.  We  must  cut  our  coat  accord- 
ing to  our  cloth  and  adapt  ourselves  to  changing  circumstances. 
Till  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  birth-rate  and  death-rate 
in  England  declined  in  parallel  lines,  the  annual  increase  of 
population  remaining  very  steady,  at  about  one  per  cent,  per 


22  SEX  AND  REPRODUCTION 

annum.  The  utter  absurdity  of  talking  about  "race  suicide" 
is  apparent  to  anyone  who  has  the  slightest  knowledge  of  the 
subject.  The  decline  in  the  birth-rate  was  made  necessary  by 
the  improvements  in  sanitation  and  medical  science,  which 
increased  the  average  duration  of  life  by  about  one-third.  The 
birth-rate  declined  by  about  one-third,  the  maximum  in  the 
'seventies  being  36  per  thousand,  and  the  minimum  before 
the  war  just  under  24. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


B     000  002  643 


3     5 I 


